Stories of October

As I sit here, wrapped up in my big cardigan, listening to the rain patter outside, it feels odd to reminisce on the beginning of the month. Because I can’t recall a warmer October in my life. It felt wrong to be walking outside in short sleeves and understandably so. I could see it in the trees because they only changed color in the last week of October. Such a difference compared to last year’s photos from the same period. One thing that didn’t change was spending a long weekend together for our dating anniversary. Aside from great food and even better quality time together, it included a trip to the Val-Dieu abbey, which I wrote about here.

The busiest time of the month had to have been the second week of October when we hosted another dog for two nights. Needless to say, Miles was thrilled he had a buddy to hang out with all weekend long and they got along great. This was Sturm’s first time away from home so we didn’t get much sleep the first night. In fact, after waking up every few hours, Grégory just decided to go running with him at 5 AM so I could catch up on some sleep. Despite all that, I loved having him around and it was adorable seeing him together with Miles. The poor thing was incredibly sad when Sturm went back home on Sunday. That same day I voted in the local elections in my town. Needless to say, it felt like a major stepping stone for me.

Midway through the month, I visited my friend and it was nice to spend some quality time together. Last time I dropped by was nine months ago and I’d like to go back during Christmastime again because I find Ghent to be charming during the holidays. Unintentionally, October turned out to be the month of baking. The menu consisted of a tarte Tatin, quatre quart and apple cinnamon turnovers. Basically, apples and cinnamon were in every single recipe. Proper autumnal pastries!

The end of the month was nearing while most of the leaves were still green and I still had so many autumnal ideas buzzing through my head. So I finally decided to do something about it on the coldest Sunday of the month. We drove up to Malchamps, near the local airfield and for ten minutes took photos while freezing. Generally speaking, I adore Malchamps and its fields. They stretch alongside the road in front of the woods and are covered in tall grass that has been bleached out by this year’s hot summer.

Basically, this is where I daydream about Wuthering Heights the most. It’s the closest thing to the Moors that Belgium has but it’s enough until the real deal! The cold winds were cutting through the desolate landscape and the weather was perfectly autumnal. Despite the bitter cold and the fact that the wind was making my eyes tear up, I still loved that moment. Probably my relentless romanticizing of horrible weather due to reading too many English classics. Either way, the end result of this shoot left me inspired to do more of these in the upcoming month since autumn is only now in its full swing. Even though it arrived late, I am not letting autumn slip by!